Attorney General Jeff Sessions Issues Statement On FBI Statistics Showing Staggering Rise In Law Enforcement Officers Killed And Assaulted In The Line of Duty In 2016

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions today issued the following statement on the FBI's 2016 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report, which show an unacceptable rise in law enforcement officers assaulted and killed in the line of duty:

"Every law enforcement officer goes to work knowing that today might be his or her last.  But last year, we saw a staggering 61 percent increase in the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty because of a felony, and on average, more than 150 officers were assaulted in the line of duty every single day. These numbers are as shocking as they are unacceptable.

“Our law enforcement deserves the support of the people they serve. Fortunately we have a President who understands this.  President Trump ran for office as a law-and-order candidate; now he is governing as a law-and-order President.

“In one of his first Executive Orders to this Department, President Trump directed us to prevent violence against law enforcement officers.  He stands with our law enforcement 100 percent—and so does this Department of Justice. That's one more reason why we're focused on the President's goal of reducing violent crime and united with local, state, and federal law enforcement in our shared mission to protect law-abiding people in every community."

According to statistics collected by the FBI, 118 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2016 – this is a 37 percent increase from 2015, when 86 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents.

Additionally, in 2016 there were 66 law enforcement officers killed in line-of-duty incidents as a result of felonious acts – this is a staggering 61 percent increase from 2015, when 41 law enforcement officer were killed in line-of-duty incidents.

Moreover, 57,180 officers were victims of line-of-duty assaults – this is a 14 percent rise from the 50,212 officer that were victims of line-of-duty assaults in 2015.

For the full comprehensive data tables about these incidents and brief narratives describing the fatal attacks and selected assaults resulting in injury, please see  the 2016 edition of Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report, released today.